The latest cancer news

• Angelina Jolie’s decision to have a double mastectomy to reduce her risk of breast cancer, after she learnt she carried the BRCA1 gene, resulted in blanket coverage across the media this week. You can read about her reasons for undergoing the surgery in this courageous New York Times piece. We also answered some of the frequently asked questions about inherited breast cancer risk and the BRCA1 gene. 

• We spotted several excellent comment pieces in response to Ms Jolie’s news. She’d “done something extraordinary”, according to Hadley Freeman in the Guardian, a sentiment broadly echoed by Lisa Markwell in the Independent, who has had breast cancer herself.

• The Guardian’s data blog took a look at the bigger picture of breast cancer worldwide.

• We also published this moving article about a personal experience of being told you have the BRCA1 gene.

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The latest cancer news

• Wednesday was a sad day for public health. The worrying rumours we’d heard last week – that the government had scrapped plans to introduce plain, standardised tobacco packaging in the Queen’s speech – turned out to be true. This BBC article has more info. We wrote about why this is a blow in the fight against cancer.
• Our scientists found that genetic ‘fine tuners’ known as microRNAs control the body’s own attack against breast cancer. Read more in our press release
• US scientists uncovered why breast cancer patients with dense breasts are often more likely to develop aggressive tumours that spread. This NewsWise article has more info.
• Also across the pond, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine identified a group of proteins that are faulty in about one-fifth of all human cancers. Science Daily covered the story.

• Pharmaceutical companies agreed a substantial discount on the cost of cervical cancer vaccines for the developing world. The New York Times and the Guardian have more detail.

And finally

• We were dismayed this week by several headlines like this: “Sun’s blood pressure benefits may outdo cancer risks”. The study in question only looked at the blood pressure of 24 volunteers who sat beneath tanning lamps. It didn’t directly look at skin cancer risk and also hasn’t been published in a peer-reviewed journal yet. Overexposure to UV radiation from the sun or sunbeds is the main cause of skin cancer, so we advise everyone to enjoy the sun safely.

Catch up on the latest cancer news

• For those who don’t know why we want the Government to legislate for plain standardised tobacco packaging, read this excellent Lancet Oncology article.
• We want to give children one less reason to start smoking but interestingly, our research this week showed that standardising cigarette packs also makes them less appealing to existing smokers (press release).
• Some Welsh cancer patients aren’t starting their treatment within government target times. The BBC has more detail.

• The Telegraph published an interesting article about using computers to choose cancer treatments. It’s not the stuff of science fiction, as doctors already use computer programmes to help identify the most suitable treatments for their patients.

• In another sci-fi-like story, US scientists have used radioactive bacteria to treat mice with pancreatic cancer. It’s intriguing work but as this Nature article says, there are several crucial questions that need answering before this research could be harnessed for humans.

• A small but interesting study we funded showed that women are often surprised that breast screening can lead to ‘overdiagnosis’ of cancer, but would rather go for screening than take the risk of missing a cancer that could be treated. Here’s our press release.

• The ‘breast cancer’ drug, Herceptin, could be effective in around two per cent of lung cancers, according to preliminary research reported here.

• An innovative drug development fund, provided in part by our commercial company Cancer Research Technology, backed its first major project this week. Here’s our press release, and we wrote in more detail about the science behind the promising compounds being developed – ‘MPS1 inhibitors’.

• According to a new analysis, rising cancer rates are threatening to ‘overwhelm’ Latin American countries. The BBC has this take.

• The Guardian wrote a fascinating piece about gene patenting and what they describe as “the last-ditch battle over who owns the rights to our DNA”.

• And the New York Times had a great article about how whole genome DNA sequencing will one day become the norm across health care, and the current “arms race” between US institutions to invest in DNA sequencing technologies.

• This article from the American Cancer Society is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding how to distinguish between good quality and questionable quality medical research.
• The BBC’s Robert Peston looked at issues around lung cancer funding.

And finally

• We recently described how a new blood test could track tumours as they grow and evolve in the body. Picking up this theme, our blogger Dr Kat Arney has looked into this exciting new area in more depth in an Opinion piece for Al Jazeera English. 

Read about cancer news from the past week

• Lots of tobacco news this week. On Monday we learnt that smokefree legislation has been linked to a drop in emergency hospital admissions from asthma. Here’s our news story.

• In parliament on Tuesday, the government confirmed that it’s taking a “careful look” at all the evidence coming out of the consultation on standardised packaging on tobacco products (news story). Let’s hope they make the right decision and give children one less reason to start smoking.

• On Wednesday, we had a timely reminder of tobacco industry tactics. The Advertising Standards Agency ruled that a series of ads from Japan Tobacco International which made claims that cannot be substantiated had breached the UK advertising code. The Guardian has more info, and you can read our view of these tactics here.

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This week’s cancer news

• Our top story of the week comes from Cancer Research UK’s own labs. Our scientists have developed a new way of looking at how tumours evolve in real-time by tracking DNA changes in the patients’ blood. Our press release and this blog post have more detail.
• Meanwhile, US scientists have found that breast cancer cells that break off from tumours have a biological ‘fingerprint’. This could allow doctors to spot women whose disease is likely to spread to the brain. Here’s our news story.
• The BBC covered a lot of interesting research this week. First up, scientists at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) studied twins to trace the root cause of leukaemia back to the womb. Fascinating work – here’s the story.
• Cancer Research UK supported scientists at the ICR also found that as well as being more likely to get prostate cancer, men with BRCA2 are also more likely to develop aggressive tumours and have the poorest survival rates. Read the BBC article for more info.
• Finally from the BBC, could male sex hormones drive breast cancer in women in some cases? While it’s an interesting story, it’s worth noting that this work was presented at the AACR annual cancer conference in Washington and hasn’t yet been published.
• It’s pretty technical, but this blog post about the challenge of balancing the benefits and risks of cancer screening tests is well worth reading. And we fully agree with the sentiment that basic research – such as looking at genetic variations to gauge individual risk – will be the solution to finding ways to “screen smarter”.

• This discussion about the language used to describe people undergoing cancer treatment struck a chord with us.

• We loved this blog post from Dr Len at the American Cancer Society – Is Cancer Research and Treatment Moving From Evolution To Revolution?

And finally

• Our roving reporter was at the AACR annual meeting this week – read his thoughts on the big themes of the conference: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4. And we also liked this summary of some notable quotes from the conference.

Here’s our pick of the headlines

• April is bowel cancer awareness month, and new figures we released this week highlight the importance of the campaign. They show that bowel cancer rates among men have increased by more than a quarter in the last 35 years. The Guardian has more info, and NHS Choices also has a good analysis of the potential reasons for the increase.
• Monday marked the start of a new era for the NHS, with radical Government reforms coming into effect. The BBC outlined the structural changes that are taking place, and our policy team outlined what the reforms mean for cancer patients.
• There were several alarming headlines this week about the planned termination of the Cancer Drugs Fund next year. For our balanced take on the story, and why we think the Government needs to find long term, sustainable solutions to fund all effective cancer treatments, read our news story.
• On the same topic, this thought-provoking BBC article calls for a new approach in developing drugs, so that they’re more affordable.

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